Artist's Notes (Wildlife Paintings, American Wildlife, Original Oil Painting )
This oil painting's primary focus is the Osprey. This regal bird makes its home among the thousands of miles of river ways, lake shores and coastlines that make Florida distinctive in the United States. The Osprey will nest in any location near a body of water providing an adequate food supply (exclusively fish). It is found on all continents except Antarctica.
A large raptor, it is brown on the upperparts and predominantly greyish on the head and underparts, with a black eye patch and wings.
The Osprey differs in several respects from other diurnal birds of prey. The Osprey and Owls are the only raptors whose outer toe is reversible, allowing them to grasp their prey with two toes in front and behind.
Its hunting technique is a thing of beauty. Its prey is first sighted when the Osprey is 15–40 feet above the water, after which the bird hovers momentarily then plunges feet first into the water.
From that height he is often completely submerge below the water and manages to lift himself and his prey out of the water and into the air. It is a sight to behold.
Fortunately for me, I live on the North fork of Florida's St. Lucie River and get to see this spectacle daily. There is a tall St. Lucie pine tree overhanging the river, next to my home, that is often its perch before or after its hunt.
This painting is a "thank you" for the specticles he has shown me. In 2009, more than 20,000 schoolchildren voted for the osprey as a new Florida state bird. However, the attempt at persuading the Legislature to change the state bird failed.
The original oil painting shown above has been sold, but it is available as a Giclee on Canvas.
To wake the soul by tender strokes of art. Alexander Pope